Filed under: Mayfair
The biggest, richest sporting event in the United States kicks off in New York City on Monday, and it should be an instant classic. The Men’s event has the entire buzz and should live up to its unbelievable hype. Djokovic, Nadal and Federer are rocks stars – playing in a city that never sleeps. These guys are so good – I’m not sure the average fan gets it! The quality of the game is off the charts – this triad of superstars is hitting with unprecedented accuracy and pace. Some of the shots they are pulling off make me wonder if they are indeed human! Most tennis fans are full of anticipation as this ‘ultra cool’ event is just hours from getting started. Let me say it again – this event is bigger and better than the Superbowl and the stats back me up.
The summer months used to be about golf and tennis. Partly by default – the only major sport being played is baseball and by this point in August – with only a month to go – the races are over and the games are meaningless.
The dog days of summer have always been hot, humid and hazy and if you were a sports fan there was nothing better than watching a major championship – and it didn’t matter if it was golf or tennis.
Oh my, how that has changed. Now there is no comparison.
The tennis landscape has far more intrigue today than ever before in history. And the golfing vista is far more bland or vanilla. Has anybody watched a golf event since Tiger blew up on the back nine on Sunday at Augusta National?
The television ratings are way down in golf and the sport is in big trouble – when a caddie (Steve Williams) is taking away most of the headlines you know you sport is in dire need of a kick in the pants. The Fed Ex cup – come on – get serious! Golf is down in every aspect, viewer ship, participation and one big category that often gets over-looked -betting. Nobody is betting on golf because nobody cares.
Speaking of betting – who is going to win the Men’s championship in Flushing Meadow in a couple of Sundays? I bet if I took Djokovic, Nadal and Federer and gave you the field (the other 125 players) in a friendly bet I would win roughly 97 percent of the time!
Anybody want to take me on??
If you do, you’re nuts!! It is almost a guarantee that one of these three legends will come away with the hardware on September 11th.
Think I’m wrong?
Well, I have the numbers to back this up. These 3 tennis giants have won 25 of the last 26 majors. That’s a staggering domination by the best 3 players in the game today – and two of them (Nadal and Federer) may be regarded as the best of all time when all is said and done! The only stumble was Del Potro at the 2009 US Open beating an exhausted Roger Federer in five sets.
Compare these numbers to golf. This fearsome threesome has won every major in the last 6+ years except for one!! Never before in tennis history have we seen such supremacy from 3 players. Tennis is at an all-time high and it’s because of these 3 luminaries.
Golf – it has been a disaster. The last 15 majors have been won by 15 different players. Never before in history have we seen such incompetence in the golfing world. No-one is capable of stepping up to the plate and taking charge. No-name winners winning golf’s major championships are ruining the sport. I’m sorry Louis Oosthuizen or Charl Schwartzel. Talk about boring.
Tiger – I’m sure you’ve heard this before – golf needs you to return to prominence in the worst way. There are no rivalries in golf. Where are the days of Nicklaus, Watson, Palmer, Trevino and Miller? To be blunt – golf sucks right now and I’m not sure it will get any better any time soon.
And on the flip side – tennis is at the top of the mountain – tennis has the rivalries, it has the exposure, it has the drama, it has the personalities, it has everything and as a result CBS will show their weekend coverage (first weekend and second weekend) across the airways in 3-D coverage. Can it get any better for tennis fans from coast to coast? A Federer ace will now whistle by and will seem so realistic that you’ll have to duck
These three have produced an awesome 3-way rivalry or a trivalry. You just know, when they play each other, it will be unbelievable drama with jaw-dropping shot making that will have the audience captivated like never before. New Yorkcrowds, in the evening session, bring out the best in the players and the drama is second to none – that includes, in my opinion, all of the other majors combined.
New York Citydeserves the last major of the season – and unless things change in a hurry – they will always have it. The golfing Grand Slam season ended at the PGA championship two weeks ago. The eyes of the sporting world will now be focused on New York City for 14 days starting on Monday– what a perfect way to bring the curtain down.
Who will it be? – It’s almost like a game of rock-paper-scissors! Federer beat Djokovic in a classic French clay court battle in May; Nadal beat Federer on clay 2 days later – just like he always does and Djokovic beat Nadal in a near perfect match on the lawns at Wimbledonin July.
And when you’re watching this spectacular event – remember one thing. The OPEN has become the highest-grossing annual attended sporting event in the WORLD. Gross revenue for the two weeks will approach $250 Million dollars.
Major event, Major players, Major Cash, Major profits – all in a Major City – really it just can’t get any better than this.
Simply put – it’s the best spectacle in the world today. And it’s not even close.
Written by Michael Emmett
Filed under: Mayfair
I completely understand the decision to put Andre Agassi and Jim Courier – two tennis legends in their prime in the mid 90s and multiple grand slam winners – on centre court during the Saturday night session at the Rogers Cup. I understand it – but I vehemently disagree with it.
The fans loved this ‘old timers’ match and were thoroughly riveted by the athleticism of these American icons. But this match should never push the athletes of today to a ‘side’ court in favor of these Hall of Famers from yester-year.
Wow – can these guys still play at a very high level – serving bombs in excess of 200km/hour, ripping forehand winners from extraordinary positions on the court and chasing down balls from different area codes. But that’s not the point – the WTA tour players must take precedence at ALL TIMES when scheduling these matches.
I don’t care if Justin Bieber is playing an exhibition match – the current crop of WTA players must have access to the main court where there are better facilities – most notably access to the all important HAWKEYE which is the deciding factor for all line calls. I can’t tell you how wrong – in my opinion – it is for these jokesters (Agassi and Courier) to have the ability to challenge a call from a linesperson, yet the 4 competitors in the doubles action late Saturday night did not have the same opportunities.
Talk about mishandling some of the top players in the game. The Agassi/Courier match was an exhibition – like wrestling (the outcome looked to be pre-determined – the only thing that matters (for the organizers) was putting on a show for the almost capacity crowd. It was a sideshow – entertaining and hilarious at times, however; they should not have been the main attraction.
The feature of the night was a singles match between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka – great quality tennis with some unbelievable shot-making. The second half of the night should have been the remaining semi-final in the doubles draw.
Agassi/Courier would have welcomed the opportunity to play on the grand stand court – that’s where they belonged – on a smaller court a good distance away from the main attraction. They had their time almost 20 years ago. Can you imagine next year at the Rogers Cup if Navratilova and Evert are put in a similar situation – do you think the game’s best doubles players on the ATP tour would be relegated to a lesser court in favor of those two female champions. Three words to answer that question.
NOT A CHANCE
The idea – with the American Men who used to entertain us all – is to augment the Women’s game not steal the show!
This is the Rogers Cup for females. End of story.
The fact that the second semi-final – involving top five superstar Victoria Azarenka – was shuffled off to the grand stand court is reprehensible. This is a mistake that hopefully in future situations will be rectified. It sets a terrible precedent for a tour that is considered to be ‘struggling.’
And it’s these kinds of decisions that will only make things worse before they get better.
Written by Michael Emmett
As we get ready for a fantastic week of tennis in two of Canada’s premier cities at the same time; I’m not convinced it is the best way to showcase our wonderful events. I know the pros and cons all to well, and nobody can convince me it is the right thing to do to satisfy our tennis starved fans from coast to coast.
There have been many discussions on the subject over the past year and I guess only time will tell. But call me skeptical – I think it will be over before we know it and we’ll be wishing we had another week. There are far too many good players to see them simultaneously in 7 days of action.
The world’s best players aren’t sold on having both the men’s and women’s events running at the same time in different places. While it’s likely to increase the stature of the events in the media, with news about the game’s stars coming out daily, players like Roger Federer think it may be too much in too short a period.
“Clearly I think it’s a bit unfortunate for Canada to have two big events like this at the very same time…You still have two (tournaments) but they’re the same week, you know? I just think it would be nice if you have them spread out like they have been…Is it good to have them back to back? I don’t know. Or is it good to have one in February or one in September? I don’t know. I guess it’s Tennis Canada who really has to answer that question, not me. But I don’t know, maybe it feels like a bigger tournament to some, I’m not sure.”
The idea is too watch as much as possible – after all, we have world class fields in both venues with so much on the line for many of these superstars. Imagine this scenario for Friday (quarter-final day). The top 8 seeds in both draws advance and we are fortunate enough to see – Sharapova vs. Azarenka, Schiavone vs. Clijsters, Kvitova vs. Zvonareva and Li vs. Wozniacki in Toronto. Meanwhile, the men also play their quarter-finals – and if things go according to plan we may witness – Djokovic vs. Monfils, Federer vs. Almagro, Berdych vs. Nadal and Fish vs.Murray.
These are 8 great match-ups and none of us will see those matches in their entirety (live) and that is a real shame. And for those hoping to tape the matches they missed and watch on TV – well guess what, Rogers Sportsnet (the new broadcaster this year) can’t show everything either.
The tennis fan will have to make many choices and hope they make the best one depending on the circumstances. If the events were combined there would be so many choices that you’d be certain to get a good match most of the time.
As a coach, I love to watch the Canadians play in the first few days of both events. With 15 Canadians scheduled to play, and the new format, I’ll be lucky if I see half of them battle the top players in the world.
When the events were back-to-back most of the Canadians received tons of air time on TSN – now with the format changed and a new broadcaster some of our best players will play in complete anonymity. It simply is not possible to see all of our home grown talent with the current setup.
I have been in the business for over 20 years and many of my friends and colleagues – who are absolute tennis lovers – watch all 4 quarter finals inTorontoand then take the trip toMontreal and watch the quarterfinals at Stade Uniprix one week later. This is a tennis fan’s dream – and unfortunately, the new format has cut the dream in half.
You can’t be in two places at once and that’s why I believe the men and women should both be in Montreal or Toronto. Flip a coin and alternate the sites from year to year. Make this a grand slam event – with a couple of differences – a smaller field, and the men would play best of 3 sets instead of best of 5.
The players love this event – it has always received the highest marks when the competitors have filled out their surveys – put the men and women together and make it like Key Biscayne and they would love it that much more. This formula has always worked for the fans, players, organizers and sponsors. The players – contrary to what the average fan thinks – want to be together. It livens the atmosphere – it makes it more like a grand slam and that is what most of the top ranked players enjoy the most.
The Canadian contingent is especially impressive on the women’s side, where the top 25 women in the world rankings are all slated to take to the court. It’s a field that Kim Clijsters thinks elevates Toronto’s tournament – Clijsters believes this tournament is on par with the grand slams in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York City.
“It’s great to hear that the Top 25 has entered. It only shows how we all look at the tournament. It’s a big tournament leading up to the U.S. Open, obviously. To me, when I’m preparing for the U.S. Open, what I think about first is I want to be ready to play well in Toronto. I enjoy it here. But at the same time, you really want to well there because it’s such a prestigious tournament and it’s built up such a reputation … I definitely schedule it in my program to try and peak there. That’s definitely the first, kind of, big test that you want to do well.”
Quarter final day at the Rogers Cup (or any day for that matter) – whether it’s in TorontoorMontreal– is something to be savored – almost like a fine wine. But now with a smorgasbord of tennis – an all you can eat approach – this will not be possible.
And once again, it’s the fans that will lose out!
Written by Michael Emmett
When it comes to getting enough nutrients in your diet, one bit of information is pretty clear-cut: Everybody should be eating 5-10 serving of fruit and vegetables daily. This includes a variety of all sorts of fruit and vegetables on the lower GL scale. Yet according to research, fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be dating back 50 years ago. We believe there are several reasons for this. One reason is that crops are growing in given spaces. This will result in a lower nutrient level. The crops are over harvested in the same location. The soil has been depleted of it s nutritional content, ranging from 5 to 40 percent, with similar declines in vitamins and protein levels. Poor farming practices are leading to sick plants, depleted soil, and a need to use higher and higher doses of pesticides and herbicides to ward off what healthy plants would naturally ward off .
The 5 most effective ways of getting maximal nutrients from your fruit and vegetables are:
Go with locally grown. The key to getting more nutrients is eating food that spends less time traveling from the field to your table. The way to accomplish that goal is with locally grown produce, either from your own garden or from a local farmer’s market. “Buy fresh, whole, and locally grown seasonal produce.
Choose frozen. Your natural instinct when eating produce is to think that fresh is always better than frozen. This is not always the case. Sometimes the veggies frozen right after harvest have retained more nutrients than those ‘fresh’ veggies that have taken forever to get to your plate.
Never judge a book by its cover. Big, shiny fruits and vegetables sure look good and grab your attention in the supermarket, but are not always the best choice. The best example I can use is the apple. Understandably, organic apples may be smaller and not quite as pretty, but their pesticide levels are likely to be lower.
Keep them rough. When the time comes to prepare your fruit and vegetables for eating, bigger, rougher pieces of produce may have the nutritional edge over finely chopped and sliced options. “Keep chopping to a minimum. Keep all your fruit and veggies in topper ware containers in the freezer and fridge, covered to prevent loss of any nutrients.
Minimize cooking time. The less fruits and vegetables are cooked, the more nutrients they retain. Try to eat your fruits and vegetables raw whenever possible. When you do cook them, keep the cooking time to a minimum and avoid too much contact with water. Some cooking methods that are quick, with a minimum amount of liquid, will help to preserve nutrients such as, steaming, blanching, and or stir-frying are all great ways to cook vegetables quickly and retain valuable nutrients. Keep veggies crisp — never overcook or boil in water until soggy.”
Written by Jason Ferreira
A Fitness, Tennis, Squash & Sports Blog by Mayfair Clubs 